Luisa Torsi (born 1964) is an Italian chemist who is a professor at the Università degli Studi di Bari. She was the first woman to serve as President of the European Materials Research Society (E-MRS). In 2019 she was named by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry as one of the world's most Distinguished Women in Chemistry.[1]

Luisa Torsi
Born1964 (age 59–60)
Alma materUniversity of Bari
Bell Labs
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Bari

Early life and education edit

Torsi was born in Bari.[2] She earned her undergraduate degree in physics at the University of Bari. Torsi has said that she realised that she wanted to be a researcher during her master's research project.[3] She remained there for her graduate studies, switching specialties to chemical sciences. In 1994 Torsi moved to the United States, where she joined Bell Labs as a postdoctoral researcher. During her postdoctoral research Torsi investigated organic field-effect transistors .[3]

Research and career edit

She returned to Italy in 1993, when she was made Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry.[4] In 2005 Torsi was made a full Professor of Chemistry.[5] Her research considers organic semiconductors and their application in electronic devices.[6] She has developed single molecule transistors that are capable of label-free disease detection.[2] The device was capable of detecting zeptomolar concentrations.[7][8] The discovery launched the Horizon 2020 project SiMBiT,[9] a bio-electronic system that looks to achieve single molecule detection of biomarkers for point-of-care testing.[10][11][12] Torsi looks to use nanoparticle based sensor to detect toxic gases.[13]

In 2015 Torsi delivered a TED talk at TEDxBari, where she discussed resilience.[14] Torsi serves on the editorial board of ACS Omega.[15]

Awards and honours edit

Selected publications edit

  • Dodabalapur, A.; Torsi, L.; Katz, H. E. (1995-04-14). "Organic Transistors: Two-Dimensional Transport and Improved Electrical Characteristics". Science. 268 (5208): 270–271. doi:10.1126/science.268.5208.270. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 17814790. S2CID 32124694.
  • Cioffi, Nicola; Torsi, Luisa; Ditaranto, Nicoletta; Tantillo, Giuseppina; Ghibelli, Lina; Sabbatini, Luigia; Bleve-Zacheo, Teresa; D'Alessio, Maria; Zambonin, P. Giorgio; Traversa, Enrico (2005). "Copper Nanoparticle/Polymer Composites with Antifungal and Bacteriostatic Properties". Chemistry of Materials. 17 (21): 5255–5262. doi:10.1021/cm0505244. ISSN 0897-4756.
  • Torsi, Luisa; Magliulo, Maria; Manoli, Kyriaki; Palazzo, Gerardo (2013). "Organic field-effect transistor sensors: a tutorial review". Chemical Society Reviews. 42 (22): 8612–28. doi:10.1039/c3cs60127g. ISSN 0306-0012. PMID 24018860.

References edit

  1. ^ "Awardees of the IUPAC 2019 Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering". IUPAC | International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  2. ^ a b "Luisa Torsi". Archivio - la Repubblica.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  3. ^ a b c d Oberbeckmann-Winter, Nicola (2020-08-01). "Robert Kellner Lecture awarded to ABC author Luisa Torsi". Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. 412 (21): 4997–4999. doi:10.1007/s00216-019-02373-1. ISSN 1618-2650.
  4. ^ Luisa Torsi. OCLC 4779423923.
  5. ^ "Curriculum — Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro". Universita' degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  6. ^ "Luisa Torsi". Archivio - la Repubblica.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  7. ^ Macchia, Eleonora; Manoli, Kyriaki; Holzer, Brigitte; Di Franco, Cinzia; Ghittorelli, Matteo; Torricelli, Fabrizio; Alberga, Domenico; Mangiatordi, Giuseppe Felice; Palazzo, Gerardo; Scamarcio, Gaetano; Torsi, Luisa (2018-08-13). "Single-molecule detection with a millimetre-sized transistor". Nature Communications. 9 (1): 3223. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-05235-z. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 6089965. PMID 30104563.
  8. ^ "A sensor detects the light touch of a single molecule". Nature. 560 (7719): 413. 2018-08-16. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-05950-z. PMID 30131535. S2CID 52055296.
  9. ^ paolo (2019-01-10). "INAUGURATO IL PROGETTO "SIMBIT" Agenzia di stampa Italpress". Italpress (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  10. ^ "SiMBiT project | EMRS". www.european-mrs.com. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  11. ^ "Torsi Luisa". www.chimica.uniba.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  12. ^ Macchia, Eleonora; Anna Picca, Rosaria; Manoli, Kyriaki; Franco, Cinzia Di; Blasi, Davide; Sarcina, Lucia; Ditaranto, Nicoletta; Cioffi, Nicola; Österbacka, Ronald; Scamarcio, Gaetano; Torricelli, Fabrizio (2020). "About the amplification factors in organic bioelectronic sensors". Materials Horizons. 7 (4): 999–1013. doi:10.1039/C9MH01544B.
  13. ^ a b "Luisa Torsi eletta presidente dell'E-MRS". www.instm.it. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  14. ^ "TEDxBari | TED". www.ted.com. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  15. ^ "ACS Omega". pubs.acs.org. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  16. ^ "Heinrich Emanuel Merck Award for 2010 granted to leading Italian scientist". www.chemeurope.com. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  17. ^ "Luisa Torsi's printable biological sensor wins European Woman Inventor of the Year Award 2015 – GLOBAL WOMEN INVENTORS & INNOVATORS NETWORK". Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  18. ^ "List of MRS Fellows | Materials science awards". mrs.org. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  19. ^ "Alto riconoscimento "Virtù e conoscenza" 2019". LeccePrima (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  20. ^ "Topolino celebra la scienza al femminile". Fondazione Leonardo - Civiltà delle Macchine. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  21. ^ "Wilhelm Exner Medals 2021 go to Katalin Karikó and Luisa Torsi". Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  22. ^ "Wilhelm Exner Medaillen 2021 an Katalin Karikó und Luisa Torsi". OTS.at (in German). Retrieved 2021-03-31.